Our Travels

Crappy internet connection right now – will add pictures and format the writing asap!!  Just wanted to get something out 🙂  This morning we got up at tramp stamp of dawn. Shortly before the asscrack. By that I mean 5:45. We did this so that I could get an award wining shot of Bryce Caynon at Sunrise. So it’s no surprise that when we looked outside there was snow, ice, and more falling snow with a nice breeze of 40mph. We went anyway…we are troopers this trip. Our cabin was only about 150 yards from the canyon rim. So we trekked out and it was FREEZING, with a driving wind that made the snowflakes feel like beebees on your face. Not to mention my poor camera was accumulating snow in various locations of which I’m sure are covered by Safeware Insurance. Heehee. We got out to the rim and some jackhole had already set up shop, so we went further uphill. We waited…got some neat pre sunrise shots.
 

We waited some. And then a little more. And then Jenn went back to the cabin to leave me freezing on the edge of a canyon. The sun never came out. :o( I went back to the room and helped Jenn finish packing up for the next leg of our journey. We checked out. Left Bryce , filled up with gas and snacks and began our trip to the Grand Canyon.  Jenn planned several stops along the way, first of which was Cliff Dwellers restaurant for breakfast. I’ll just let you look at the pic to see what BFE really means:



 The food was actually very good, and our waiter had lots of good advice for the rest of our trip. Near the restaurant were these small rock houses that people once actually lived in. Why? I don’t know. They were white folks…what do you expect:

 

We made several other scenic stops, Here are some pics.  Next up was Lee’s Ferry, which is one of the few places there is a direct entrance to the Colorado. This is where the all River rafting trips launch. We both touched the Colorado, and that is some ice cold water! We got a couple pics up river a bit.
 

After we had our fun in the river we crossed the Navajo bridge. This at one point in time, and may still be still be (no internet right now, which means no google) was the only crossing point of the Colorado for 600 miles!

  

Next up was Antelope Canyon. And this was just awesome. The Canyon was what they call a slot canyon and they are on Navajo land. So we paid a nominal $52 fee to enter the canyon without a guide…screw guides….we don’t need no stinking guide. This canyon is what I like to call a death trap. They warn you that the canyon is subject to flash floods, and they close anytime it rains. Well it was sprinkling earlier in the day and the clouds looked questionable, so we crossed or fingers and hoped we would not end up like the French tourists who drowned there a few years back. No we’re not kidding. Seriously, they’re dead. It’s hard to explain the canyon, so I will let the pics do the talking:



 

So we made it out alive and after yet another uphill hike were able to leave and grab some subway not too far away. As if this day hadn’t already been full enough, we then went to horseshoe bend. It’s pretty straightforward. A bend in the Colorado that offers quite the view:

 

For this particular shot I laid down on an edge rock, Jenn held my legs thinking that would help, and I put my head and camera over the edge. It was the only way to get the full horseshoe. Sorry Mom. We are in the car now on our way to the Grand Canyon and our hopes for a beautiful sunset arrival are quickly going out the window. Because out the window it just started snowing and the temperature dropped from 52 to 34 in a matter of miles.  In addition nice dark clouds have decided to roll in and block the sun. Lovely. UPDATE. It’s now 32. This officially sucks.  By the time we arrived at the lookup point for our first view of the canyon, we decided to brave it, despite the now 24 degrees, winds and snow. As we approached the lookout the sun broke through the clouds. We practically ran up the remainder of the path for our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. And we were not disappointed. The snow was falling in the canyon, yet the sun was coming through and hitting various spots of the canyon. It was just beautiful. Keep in mind these are straight from the camera…pre photoshop. 







 

 

After watching the sunset we made our way to our hotel, El Tovar. It was built in 1905 right on the rim of the canyon. The lodge has a very rustic feel. Everything is very much what you would expect. Moose heads on walls, wood everything, giant fireplace…the whole deal. Luckily for us the rooms were updated in 2005…BUT there is no elevator. If anyone knows how Jenn packs then you would understand that means a possible hernia. So I paid the bellboy to carry it all…HA. Once we settled in we made our way to Bright Angel Lodge and had dinner at The Arizona Room. Although expensive it was quite good. 

Once dinner was over we went straight to bed.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 6:18 pm and is filed under Out West 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.